Yaaaaay, another chappie! And yes, you have seen the lack of music in this one. Music is going to play less of a role here than in Charice's, so there will be no playlist. Sorry DX

/=+=/

["You think you can stop me? You don't even know anything about me!"]

"I know…not yet, anyway."

Rizal grinned as he allowed Ivan to skip forward with the wound on his back slowly closing itself as he summoned Mateus from his glyph. Her wand quickly shot ice sculptures toward the Shadow, who grinned and slashed them away with one flick of the wrist. That same shockwave threw them all back until they crashed into the wall.

"Ne…I never saw a Shadow so strong before…"

"This is his mind, Ivan. I'm surprised he decided to toy with us." Rizal lifted up his yo-yo with a grin on his face. "Let's play."

His eyes began to hover between gold and red as his yo-yo cloned itself four times between his fingers and he and the Shadow began their attack. There were no Shadows or Personas involved: it was just a heated battle between two men that wanted nothing more than pride and blood. Ivan sighed as he summoned Mateus again.

"Tsk, tsk, Rizal…you always have to be so blood thirsty…and you worry for me?"

Ivan fused with him, turning into a warrior bathed in deep purple, and flew into the battle. As the clashing continued to echo throughout the room, Ivan summoned an ice bomb to separate the both of them. Rizal looked up and snarled as Ivan hovered between the both of them.

"Rizal, I think it's time for you to calm down." Ivan smiled. "It was about to come out again."

That shut him up, but it didn't make Gilbert calm down. Rizal's eyes quickly flashed back to gold as he slashed through all the beams of power and flipped over Gilbert's flying blade. It was really starting to pull back up his war-torn mode, but he had to suppress it…it would be much worse if it was him that stopped the fight.

"Ne~~~have you found his weakness yet?"

"There isn't an opening! I can't get in there!" Rizal flipped over more people. "Though I will make this proposition."

"Da?"

"I think you're going to be the one paving the path." He stated. "So don't die on me."

"I will make sure of that, da?"

It was strange. A lot of people feared Ivan because he was so creepy. Rizal (and possibly Natalya) was the only one who knew it was just because of the childlike innocence and the rather strange way of abiding his curiosity. Maybe more people knew. Strange enough, none of them spoke up. It was a strange mixture of misunderstanding and fear. Maybe it's the Communism.

["Hahahahaha! Are you seriously thinking that you can beat me at my own game?"] He grinned, spinning around his blade. ["I am the elite of awesome. I can never be defeated…I can never be destroyed!"]

At that statement, Rizal's eyes began to glow and he saw something on his forehead: a bright light. He couldn't help but grin back, his glyph shining and morphing itself over his left arm.

"You're open."

Gilbert slashed toward him while Rizal spun over all of them with ease, until his hand touched the bright light and everything turned to white.

/~+~/

"The Kingdom of Prussia has officially been dissolved."

"What?"

The nation stood there in shock as his leaders told him all the details that had occurred with this dissolution, but nothing was registering in his head. He only sat there in shock as he thought about these chains of events. He had built himself as a powerful country, this beautiful kingdom…and now he was going to be destroyed during one war? Just like that?

"We don't know what to do right now…but sooner or later, England is going to come and make sure that it's official-"

"Write whatever the hell they want you too."

"Sir?"

They turned their heads in shock to see Prussia standing up from his seat, his hand on the table and his gaze down to that clenching hand. He was going to die now? This was going to be the end? What the hell is he going to do…? No. No way in this world. He was a powerful kingdom. He was not going to die like this.

"Follow their words. Say whatever the hell they want you to say. Make them fat with pride."

"Sir? But what about you? If we do, you'll dissolve!"

"No way in hell am I going to dissolve. Not by this." He grinned. "All I'm asking you is to save yourselves. You're all human. You're nothing against the powers of an actual nation."

"…what about you?"

"I'll live through all this. I'll find ways to live through all this. And when the Kingdom finally rises back up from the grave, I'm going to need all of you to be there and help me run it." He looked at his fellow comrades. "Now do you get it? You're all my future. Once we all get through this, I'll be glad to see you all again."

"Sire…"

"Live through this, boys. I'm seeing you later in this very room, hopefully I'm the one calling you sire."

"…agreed."

/~+~/

Rizal jumped away, hearing the echoes of Gilbert forcing himself to stay alive throughout these years. Half of the time he was coughing up blood, and then he found his mind seeing the images of blood turning into dust. He couldn't help but grin at his determination: sheer willpower had literally halted him from complete dissolution.

"Hah! Maybe he's more awesome than I thought…just…barely, though."

"Ne~~~you found something?"

"Yeah, basically." He grinned. "He's been holding back his own death for years now."

"Hm…really, now?"

"It's been getting worse over the years…apparently, there was a promise involved with a room of men…men long past their lifespans." Rizal stood up. "Though really, sheer willpower…?"

"I think it's…something else."

"Ivan?"

"Ne~~~you made the right prediction. I'm the one who's going to have to carve the path."

"You have the answer?"

"Of course I do, da?"

"…fine. Let's just hope it's what he's looking for."

He held the glyph in his hand before drawing out Ragnarok, swung it around before throwing it to Ivan. The Russian watched as the blade began to shimmer around a bit before glowing a bright yellow. He smiled and gave him a thumbs up, something he got from America.

"It's good~!"

"All right."

["Hey! Are you ignoring me?"]

"Maybe we are~" Ivan chirped, holding Ragnarok in his hand. "Maybe we're not~"

Rizal said nothing as he saw Ivan chirp openly and make his move, turning Mateus into his armor and going with a one-on-one duel. The entire time, he tried his best to hold back his war-torn mind. It was always so hard to hold it back when it's in its prime situation…

Ragnarok…the ultimate sword that might be rivaling legends of Excalibur…

"You're going to be cured now, da~?"

Alexander…the ultimate weapon shaped to rival the most corrupt of foes…

"Your attacks are wavering…you as a Shadow must still be scared of me."

Both of them together serve my purpose of cleansing the souls of those burdened with pain and hardship.

"Don't worry…I'm going to save you now."

With my left hand, Alexander finds the problem that chains the mind down the most.

"Just like Master plans it to be…"

With my right hand, Ragnarok gives them the answer they seek.

"Death is scary, Gilbert…but do not worry. It is for the best in your cause."

It works by implanting a memory from the wielder of the blade into the mind of the one who asks the question when it is shoved into the heart.

"Дорогие души, что прикован к путанице ..."

The problem, when solved, will morph into something new to the twisted soul…

"Облака будут очищены и путь будет твердым покрытием."

It no longer burdens…it paves.

"Пройдите до конца, свободной от страха и сомнений."

It becomes…

"Теперь иди!"

A Persona.

/=+=/

Translation for the Russian, line by line:

"Dear soul that is chained by confusion…"

"The clouds will be cleared and the path will be paved."

"Walk to the end free of fear and doubt."

"Now go!"

Not to sound stingy, but you better remember this translation. For the course of this entire fanfic spin-off, you're going to be seeing it. Think of it as a trademark saying.